Oklahoma Continues to Lag in Child Wellbeing, But Improvement Possible

By Joe Dorman, OICA CEO

For the Children

OKLAHOMA CITY – As the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) works to improve the quality of life for children, data drives our efforts.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) is dedicated to improving conditions for children across our nation. AECF was established in 1948 by Jim Casey (the founder of UPS) and his siblings to honor their mother, who kept the family together through hardship following the death of their father.

The work of AECF over the past 37 years has created the annual KIDS COUNT® Data Book, showing where states either improved or worsened in child wellbeing.

AECF just released their latest report; it shows that Oklahoma continues to lag in child wellbeing. The data AECF collected placed Oklahoma in the bottom 10 of the 50 states. With rank of 44th, we move up two spots from last year’s ranking of 46^th, but that is nothing to cheer about. You can see the document at https://www.aecf.org/interactive/databook

The scores track indicators from 2019 to 2024 in four categories: Economic Well-Being; Education; Family and Community; and Health. Each category has four sub-points. Data provided by each state are compiled and ranked.

For the first time since its inception, states now receive a comprehensive score (from 0 to 1,000) in the Data Book along with a ranking. This year, the nation scored 547 in overall child well-being; state scores ranging from 271 in Mississippi to 838 in New Hampshire. Oklahoma received an overall score of 425, which was 122 points below the national average.

Under Economic Well-Being, the areas examined are: Children Living in Poverty; Children Whose Parents Lack Secure Employment; Children Living in Households with a High Housing Cost Burden; and, Teens Not in School and Not Working.

For Education, the topics are: Young Children (Ages 3 and 4) Not in School; Fourth Graders Not Proficient in Reading; Eighth Graders Not Proficient in Math; and, High School Graduates Not Graduating on Time.

Within Family and Community, the data examined were: Children in Single-Parent Families; Children in Families Where the Household Head Lacks a High School Diploma; Children Living in High-Poverty Areas; and, Teen Births per 1,000.

The Health categories are: Low Birth-Weight Babies; Children without Health Insurance; Child and Teen Deaths per 100,000; and, Children and Teens Ages 10 to 17 who are Overweight or Obese.

For the 2026 KIDS COUNT® Data Book, Oklahoma tied with Texas for 44th for child wellbeing, with only Nevada, Alaska, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi ranking lower. Oklahoma’s individual rankings within the major categories are: 30th in Economic Well-Being, 37th in Health, 43rd in Family and Community, and 48th in Education.

The state ranked 40th or below in seven of 16 indicators:

• Percent of children in poverty, which for a family of two adults and two children was below $30,900 in 2023 (19%, ranked 42nd).
• Percent of 4th graders who scored below proficient reading level (77%, ranked 48th).
• Percent of 8th graders who scored below proficient math level (83%, ranked 49th).
• Percent of high school students not graduating on time (18%, ranked 41st).
• Children without health insurance (9%, ranked 46th).
• Child and teen death rate (35 deaths per 100,000 children ages 1 to 19, ranked 40th).
• Teen birth rate (20 births per 1,000 females ages 15 to 19, ranked 45th).

Since 2019, Oklahoma improved in seven of the 16 categories, worsened in another seven, and remained stable in two. Four of those seven were under “Education.”

With the emphasis on education by our Legislature this year, I believe we will see gains in coming years. Mississippi’s education reforms, which we emulated, moved them to 16^th in education. Still, they were so poor in every other ranking, they fell below Oklahoma’s total rank. Working with lawmakers and showing data makes improvement possible here.

Our profound thanks go to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for helping OICA make the case for improved child well-being!

About OICA: The Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy was established in 1983 by a group of citizens seeking to create a strong advocacy network that would provide a voice for the needs of children and youth in Oklahoma, particularly those in the state’s care and those growing up amid poverty, violence, abuse and neglect, disparities, or other situations that put their lives and future at risk. Our mission statement: “Creating awareness, taking action and supporting policy to improve the health, safety, and well-being of Oklahoma’s children.”